What a week for Rodney King and Hugh Hefner

The world is a violent place, and This Week in History stands out for two incidents in particular that riveted our attention to the television screen in an era before the Internet. Both involved encounters between law enforcement officers and American citizens – and each in turn led to even greater violence.

In 1991, there was a motorist beaten by police officers. In 1993, there was a raid on a compound in Waco, Texas.

But this week is marked by fun and games, too: A record set by a giant among NBA giants and "bunnies" who hopped into the national scene from the lap of a pipe-smoking magazine publisher.